Do You Like Her?
by Blu Rose
Summary: "Do you like her? Shiemi-san, I mean." A simple question puts Yukio on the spot with his nephew. (Future-based oneshot. One-sided Yukio x Shiemi. Rated T for suggestive topic.)


**Behold what happens when a couple of manga chapters put a hole in your ship and make it sink! Just consider this fic my way of playing taps to the idea of Yukio and Shiemi ever being a canon couple. Yes, I know nothing's been deemed "canon" yet, but it damn well** _ **feels**_ **like it! So let me write my story and mope in peace.**

 _Disclaimer: Thank goodness Blu Rose doesn't own Blue Exorcist. I'm just saying._

 _Summary: "Do you like her? Shiemi-san, I mean." A simple question puts Yukio on the spot with his nephew. (Future-based fic. One-sided Yukio x Shiemi.)_

 **X-X-X**

"Do you like her? Shiemi-san, I mean." The question had caught Yukio, who had been sitting at his table grading papers from his cram school class, off guard and made him stop writing. "Because I've seen the way you stare at her sometimes. It reminds me of the kids from school, and how they stare at people they have crushes on." The person speaking was Yukio's nephew, Rin's son Kazuki, who was staying with him until his mother would be able to pick him up after work. The boy was 15 years old now, but for reasons they didn't disclose, his parents never trusted him at home alone.

Yukio refused to look up at his nephew—the spitting image of his father—sitting across the table and doing his homework. Instead, he resumed looking over the papers, marking off X's and O's as he pushed down a nagging feeling in his chest. He didn't consider the question an affront on his privacy, but he was still curious. "What exactly brought _this_ up? Did your father…tell you anything?"

"Just an observation," the teen answered innocently enough. But that innocence faded when he next said, "The way you stare at her is like…bedroom eyes."

" _Bedroom eyes_?!" If there was a statement to make him lose his cool, it would be bedroom eyes.

"Just an observation!" Kazuki repeated quickly.

"I do no such thing!" Not on purpose, at least. He admits to himself that his gaze on Shiemi sometimes lingers when she isn't looking. It's a physical thing— _lust_ , really. One who doesn't engage in sexual activities often enough is bound to have pent up lust that affects them in funny ways. There is no _like_ when it comes to lust. "And what does a child know of _'bedroom eyes'_? Where'd you learn that phrase?"

Kazuki shrugged, not looking up from his homework. "Dunno. I just heard it from somewhere." Then he added in a mumble, "And I'm not a child," and they both fell quiet. Silence filled the room for a few minutes before the dark-haired boy spoke again, "So, do you? Like her, I mean?"

Yukio took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He still refused to look at the boy, and so he was constantly staring down at the paper he had stopped on. But he couldn't focus on it because he could feel Kazuki's questioning gaze on him. So he sighed and answered him, "Shiemi-san is a married woman with children." _Happily_ married with _happy_ children. One big happy family. He felt no hate for her husband, nor envy, because Yukio doesn't really think being a husband and a father suits him.

"That doesn't matter. Kids at school say they'd like to bang the school nurse, and _she's_ gotta be 20 years older than them with a husband and a kid."

"Well, it's different for adults. When _kids_ say things like that, it isn't taken seriously, but adults…just shouldn't say those sorts of things." Not about married women and definitely _not_ about Shiemi. Otherwise, less than virtuous thoughts about her would come to Yukio's mind and he'd come to hate himself.

"If you say yes, I won't tell. I'd just question your taste."

Yukio arched an eyebrow. "My tastes?"

"Shiemi-san's…too nice. It's suspicious. If you act that nice and smile that much, you're hiding something."

Yukio couldn't help snorting. He didn't need to look up to see that Kazuki was staring at him in confusion. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Shiemi-san is as nice as she seems. She always has been." He went back to work grading papers and tried to ignore the feeling of his nephew's stare.

"So you _do_ like her."

"As a friend." Because that was all he _could_ like her as now— _had_ to like her as now, while ignoring those carnal feelings of his. It was simple lust for something he couldn't have and probably was never close to having. That's what Yukio told himself, anyway.

Silence fell in the room. Yukio didn't want to look up and risk looking at Kazuki's face, so he continued grading papers. He didn't want to look him in the eye and have him realize that he was lying. Knowing the uncle he looked up to was capable of such a thing as longing for a married woman would ruin their relationship. Right now, the monotony of checking answers would calm his agitated heart and help put his nephew's questions out of his mind.

At least until Kazuki began speaking again, "Really nice people are either hiding something or likely to crack from the pressure of being so nice all the time. Like, they suddenly kill their families one day or start to act all crazy. Really, you probably dodged a bullet there."

"Kazuki. _Stop_. You don't have to say things like that to make me feel better." Because really, _he's_ the bad guy here, isn't he?

"I'm just saying—" A cute-sounding electronic tone stopped Kazuki from saying anything more and made Yukio look up from the table. The boy took out his phone to stare at the screen for a few seconds. "Mom's done with work. She'll be here in a little while." Kazuki put away his phone, which was Yukio's cue to look back down at the table.

"Oh. Good. You'd better get your stuff ready," his uncle spoke calmly, as if their prior conversation had never happened.

So Kazuki packed his things while Yukio continued to focus on grading papers. Soon they heard a car honking outside and they both knew that Kazuki's mother had arrived. "That's Mom. I'll be going now." But the boy hesitated, like there was something more he wanted to say. "…I'm sorry if what I said offended you."

"It didn't."

"It's okay if you wanna stare… People can't help staring at things they want."

"That is true."

Some more honks from outside made Kazuki realize that time was running out. He quickly said, "You can find better women than her, for sure," before running out of the room.

Once he heard the front door slam and the sound of his sister-in-law's car driving off, Yukio sighed and leaned back in his chair as he ran a hand through his hair. He gave a bitter smile and laughed to himself, "No, there isn't…" If there was such a woman, he hadn't found her yet. And so he continued grading papers so he could force down his feelings of lust, self-disgust and regret.

 **X-X-X**

 **I question why I like to torture Yukio so much and make him a bad person with such weird flaws. I feel like I've done a bad thing. Now I feel like I have to make an OC who'll be a good match for him—like I know what** _ **that**_ **is… Maybe I'll just write a lighthearted sequel to this where Kazuki tries to set up Yukio with random women to no avail. Yeah, that'd probably make me feel better.**


End file.
